Who will become the papi tailor after Raniero Manchinelli
The Vatican and outside these days comment on another choice – who will become the tailor of the new pope. Traditionally, it’s Lorenzo Gamarelli, but this time they asked his studio not to prepare anything and wait. The attention was directed to Raniero Manchinelli, who sewed white clothes and race for several popes, but now he was instructed to make all three sizes for the first papal clothing while the conclave was assembled.
There is hardly a more famous « model » for his clothes – there is no one to replace the first appearance of Leo XIV on the balcony of St. Peter in the Manchinelli garment.
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Borgo Pio’s studio sews for priests, bishops and cardinals for 70 years and 7 popes. He personally sewed for three, incl. For the late Francis.
Raniero is 86 years old, so even if Leo XIV chooses him as his tailor, the question remains.
« I have to convey them between today and tomorrow – the race, the belt and the Solideo » (the creeper of the Tempe – ed. « The dimensions are three – 50, 54 and 58, giving a person’s weight to a person, not its height. » The reason is that on the balcony of St. Peter, everyone is only visible to the waist, so if the garment is longer, it is not noticed by the crowd and people in front of the television screens.
The honor for him is great – to create the first ceremonial garment that the pope will wear after the choice. Of course, they are a gift. « I create them, I suggest them, they didn’t want them to be canceled. If they use mine, I’ll be very happy. »
At the same time, Gamarelli said he had expected in the tears room next to the Sistine Chapel for the new Catholics leader to wait for clothes sewn for some of the previous conclaves.
Manchinelli also dressed Catholic bishops, priests and seminarians. In fact, he is very busy with orders at the last moment before the conclave. « There are cardinals who need a belt, a summer cape, a collar. I take care of it, » he said to AFP.
- A native of the Marke region in Central Italy, he enters the craft by accident after one day he was offered a work on making a race for the Vatican. Today, the workshop is full of pictures of Manchinelli and the Pope. Priests from all over the world stop during their visits to Rome. Some are friends, others have risen in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church.
The election of Francis in 2013 surprised him, an outsider from the End of the World, as he himself said on the day he began his rule. Manchinelli said the Argentine was not among his regular customers, although he may have gone through the store at some point. « With so many priests, bishops and cardinals who enter and go out, it is difficult to remember everyone, » he noted.
But then he developed special relationships with Francis. « Our first sweetest and most beautiful meeting with him will never forget. He was friendly, joyful. We looked like a lifelong friends. I met him at least five times. He chose me. » It was in the Manchinet store more than 30 years ago that Francis buys the Iron Cross, which he brings until his death. The image of this cross is now above his tomb in the Basilica « Santa Maria Maggiore ».
Francis set a specific condition: simplicity. « He didn’t like expensive things. He wanted simple, durable fabrics, like a light wave mixed with a little synthetics against deformation, » Manchinelli said.
Francis’ simple lifestyles made the way for a new understanding of papal elegance. He declined to wear a short, cloak -like red moteta (a type of short cloak to his elbows) on the night of his choice, appearing in the evening of March 13, 2013 only in a white race.
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Its small studio is like a capsule of time. The walls are lined with photographs that Manchinelli appears to be smiling to John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis. The iron, heavy and blackened, is the same as it has been using since 1962. The sewing machine looks like a mood exhibit, but has helped to create a white race designed for one of the most exciting moments in the life of a pope.
Talk to the confidence of a person who has been sewing a race for the popes for more than half a century. It takes 5-6 days. He starts at the age of 15, side by side with his father. « I feel normal. This is my work for 70 years and I do it with passion. I work with my daughter and my grandson Lorenzo, who is 23 years old and now makes a belt for the cardinal. This is a tradition that goes on. »
Manchinelli said that before Conclava he saw two cardinals, one American, and the other Eastern European, dressed in new red race. « I said to them, » Your overlook, but become a pope? « And they said, » No, no risk! « He said he didn’t remember who they were, but maybe, like any good master, he was a guardian of secrets.
« I hope I can continue to dress the next pope, if I have no longer dressed it. »
The Roman Borgo Pio Street and its surroundings represent a kind of elite showcase for clergy. There is also a man’s workshop known as « Papi shoemaker ».
Antonio Arelano, a native of Trujillo (Peru), has been in Italy for over three decades. In his small craft workshop, he made the shoes of John Paul II and the famous red moccasins of Benedict XVI. The German pope was a regular client, even during his term as an honorary pope, after his resignation in 2013, explains the craftsman, proudly showing a photo from the pope’s funeral chapel, at which the arelano’s signature can be seen on the sole of the shoes of the deceased.
There are also newspaper clippings on the walls of his store and numerous photos with Ratzinger. In one corner, several copies of the book, which he wrote in 2019, entitled « The Pope’s shoemaker », are arranged, in which he recounts his life, how he arrived in Italy, how he built a clientele among priests, bishops and nuns on the walls of the Vatican and how he became a shoemaker.
He remembers every detail of his renowned clients. « John Paul II liked burgundy shoes, with pointed peaks like these, » he recalls, showing a pair. He knew Benedict XVI of his time as a cardinal; He recorded his measures and ordered several red shoes as a pope. « He was very polite, very calm. He came here because I was the only shoemaker in the area, » he explains behind the stand, surrounded by shoes, belts and other leather goods, while in the back room his nephew works with molds and shoe soles.
His son, Daniel Arelano, owns another shoe store he opened 17 years ago, also not far from the Vatican, but on the other side of St. Peter Square. He learned the craft from his father and repeatedly repaired Pope Francis’ orthopedic interview made by his trusted shoemaker in Argentina.
« They were comfortable, hygienic because there were some difficulties with walking, black, simple, with simple ties. He wore them to change the tire of the sole or to polish them, » he notes in his store. He adds, « He took a lot of care for his belongings. He liked to repair them when they were very worn instead of buying new ones. He brought his shoes from Argentina as a cardinal and continued to wear them throughout his pontiff. He had two models, but they were very similar. »
Francis was buried in a simple ark with his pair of worn shoes, which were also repaired by Daniel Arelano. In his workshop, Daniel also loves all kinds of leather products, such as luxury bags of Fendi and Louis Vuitton. « It’s good that people continue to fix things. I hope the next pope will send a message in this direction, as Francis did. The ejection culture and so much consumerism are not something to admire, » he said.
